Ronin Assets Founder to Redevelop Former Grenelefe Golf Club

Ronin Assets founder Scott House wants to transform the former Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Club in Haines City, Florida, into a sprawling residential community.

House’s ambitious plan calls for almost 1,900 single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes and apartments across 536 acres, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The plans came to light in advance of a Polk County Development Review Committee meeting last week.

The resort, at 3200 Kokomo Road, is about 40 miles southwest of Orlando, and about 70 miles east of Tampa.

An LLC linked to House purchased the former golf and tennis club for $3.1 million in 2022 from timeshare giant Westgate Resorts, which had owned and operated it since 2004. Westgate sold another portion of the site, comprising 417 condominiums, to Alya Grenelefe LLC for $31.5 million.

The 1,273-acre former resort was once a bustling destination with three top-tier golf courses, 22 tennis courts, a convention center, three restaurants, four swimming pools, a planned marina on Lake Marion and condos.

House’s plan will split the redevelopment into two primary sections, divided by Kokomono Road. For Grenelefe East, spanning 350 acres, he aims to replace the former convention center and tennis facility with 651 single-family homes, situated on 50- and 60-foot lots. It would also include roughly 200 townhouse units, 80 apartments and an 84-unit duplex community where the marina had been planned, the outlet said.

Grenelefe West, spanning 186 acres on the former golf course, is slated for 866 residences, including 488 single-family homes and a townhouse community with 100 units.

The project reflects a growing trend of repurposing failed golf courses for infill housing developments. In Orlando, Westside Capital Group has been greenlit to convert the former Lake Orlando golf course into a mixed-use development with 6,000 residences and 350,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

—Quinn Donoghue